New Yellowstone Youth Campus plan approvedBy Moosetrack Megan

Posted: October 23, 2017

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Yellowstone National Park plans to construct a new youth campus at Mammoth Hot Springs which will replace and improve the park’s existing education facilities and better serve today’s needs. The project was approved by the National Park Service Intermountain Regional Director, Sue Masica on October 4, 2017.

The current campus was constructed in 1978. Functionally out of date, the inadequate dormitory, classroom, and office space do not meet the needs of today’s students and staff. Its accessibility, energy efficiency, and parking are also deficient.

The new campus buildings will be designed and constructed to meet the Living Building Challenge, a green building certification program and sustainable design framework that requires performance standards demonstrated over twelve consecutive months. For example, 105 percent of the campus’s energy needs must be supplied by on-site renewable energy on a net annual basis, without the use of on-site combustion.

A portion of the campus will be built on a previously disturbed site. The development will allow for overnight stays for up to 140 students at a time, which is more than double the capacity of the current facility.

Superintendent Dan Wenk remarked that, “The youth campus will be funded through a combination of philanthropic donations received by our non-profit partner, Yellowstone Forever, and federal support. The campus we build together will teach sustainability. It will facilitate high quality learning experiences and inspire students to be life-long learners and stewards of Yellowstone long into the National Park Service’s second century.”

The anticipated completion date for the new campus will be 2022, Yellowstone’s 150th anniversary.